College Football Playoff Notebook: Dukes Look to Keep Going in CFP vs. Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. – Keep going.

That's what JMU quarterback Alonza Barnett III did after a serious knee injury on the final offensive snap of last year's regular season.

It's what Dukes' running back Wayne Knight did as he busted tackles for a 73-yard touchdown run in this year's Sun Belt championship game.

It's what the entire JMU football program did when news broke that its coach, Bob Chesney, would be leaving Harrisonburg after the season to take over at UCLA.

"Continued relentlessness," Barnett dubbed it.

These unrelenting and unlikely Dukes are now in the College Football Playoff, set to face fifth-seeded Oregon on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.

A three-touchdown underdog, they've spent two weeks hearing outsiders question whether they can compete with the Ducks and whether, as a Group of Five team, they even belong in these playoffs.

"We can kind of use it to our advantage," Knight said. "Just being able to take that and put a chip on our shoulder going into this game."

JMU's formula for success – which it rode to a 12-1 record and a Sun Belt championship – has been reliable all season. On defense, they control first and second down, then attack on third. The Dukes rank fifth nationally in third-down defense.

Offensively, JMU has a dominant ground game. Knight, who leads the Sun Belt in rushing, headlines a deep running back group and the Dukes' offensive line has rounded into a run-blocking force.

But what really made Madison the first Commonwealth team to reach the CFP is what the players' describe as the program's "DNA," – a gritty mindset that keeps them pushing forward through whatever is in front of them.

That's what Barnett did after tearing the ACL in his right knee on the team's final regular-season snap against Marshall last year.

He missed the team's bowl game – a Boca Bowl victory over Western Kentucky that was the first in program history – spent the holidays on a knee scooter and dealt with an uncertain future in football.

JMU, understandably, brought in an experienced option at the position in Matthew Sluka, who had played for Chesney at Holy Cross.

Barnett pushed through his rehab, leaning on fellow injured teammates in offensive lineman Carter Sweazie and running back Jordan Fuller, to help keep his spirits up. Barnett was medically cleared about a week before the season opener.

He and Sluka split time for the first two games, before Barnett took over as the fulltime QB, throwing for 2,533 yards and 21 touchdowns, while rushing for 544 yards and a team-high 14 scores.

That competitive persistence is also what allowed JMU to dominate the second half of games this season. The Dukes hold a staggering 261-59 scoring margin after halftime and have outpaced opponents 139-30 in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps no single play better encapsulates the Dukes' drive not to be denied than Knight's Sun Belt title game score against Troy. Down 7-3 early in the second quarter, JMU's offense had yet to get in gear.

On first down at its own 27-yard-line, it gave the ball to Knight, who was hit by a defender at the line of scrimmage. He broke through that tackle, only to be sandwiched by two more Troy players at the 32.

But Knight pulled and dragged through their arm tackles, then raced the remaining 65 yards to the end zone for the Dukes' first touchdown of the game.

That helped send JMU on its way to a victory. Then, coupled with favorable events around the nation, including Duke's upset of Virginia in the ACC championship game, JMU earned its spot in the CFP.

"We just took care of what we needed to take care of," linebacker Trent Hendrick said. "Day in and day out. Being where our feet are at has led us to this point right here."

Now, their feet are in Eugene, in the college football playoffs. The winner of Saturday's game advances to play Texas Tech in the Capital One Orange Bowl on New Year's Day.

The Dukes' goal hasn't changed.

Keep going.

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